Born From Madness (Harry Potter Fanfic)

152

"That Zacharias bloke's a wart!" Ron grumbled as they were making their way back to Hogwarts. They had finished the meeting once they had written everyone's names down on a piece of parchment after having to convince people she wasn't going to leave it lying around. 

"I don't like him much either," Hermione admitted as they stopped by Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop for her to buy some more quills, "But he overheard me talking to Ernie and Hannah at the Hufflepuff table and he seemed interested in coming." 

"Do you guys wonder what Jordan meant when she said what she said?" Harry suddenly asked while Hermione was roaming across the rows of quills. 

"What?" Ron asked.

"You know... when she said 'Cause once you learn it, it's not going away anytime soon' and 'causing you to lose a bit of yourself.' What do you guys think she meant?" Harry explained. Hermione shrugged. 

"I'm not sure," Hermione said while paying for the few quills she grabbed, "but I don't think it would be wise for us to go poking around for answers. It sounded like she went through something similar like us." 

As Harry and Ron were entering the school, discussing the new practices they were going to have to do, the two of them stopped by the Great Hall where there was now a new rule plastered on the wall that read: 

By Order of 
The High Inquisitor of Hogwarts 

All Student Organizations, Societies, Teams, Groups, and Clubs are henceforth disbanded. An Organization, Society, Team, Group or Club, is hereby defined as a regular meeting of three or more students. Permission to re-form may be sought from the High Inquistor (Professor Umbridge). 

No Student Organization, Society, Team, Group or Club may exist without the knowledge and approval of the High Inquisitor. Any student found to have formed or to belong to an Organization, Society, Team, Group, or Club that has not been approved by the High Inquisitor will be expelled. 

The above is in accordance with Educational Decree Number Twenty-four. 

Signed:
Dolores Jane Umbridge
High Inquisitor 

"This isn't a coincidence," Harry claimed as his hands formed into fists, "she knows." 

"She can't." Ron claimed, "But then again, there were people listening in that pub and let's face it, we don't know how many people who turned up we can trust... any of them could have run off and told her... I wouldn't be surprise if it was Zacharias Smith, who blabbed." 

"I wonder if Hermione's seen this yet," Harry wondered as they made their way up towards their dorms. 

Upon entering the Gryffindor Tower, they found Hermione was sitting in her chair, reading a book as Crookshanks was laying right beside her. 

"Hermione, did you happen to see the new rule out front? They're disbanding everything! Someone at the meeting had blabbed to Umbridge." Ron told her. 

"No, they didn't." Hermione stated to them. 

"Hermione, are you seriously that naive?" 

"No, what I'm saying is if they did, we would know the culprit. I put a jinx on that piece of parchment we all signed and they'll regret doing it if they so much at give a small hint there's a club going on. Just thought of it after a wonderful nap." Hermione explained to them. 

"What will happen to them?" Harry asked her, curiously. 

"Just give them boils that make the worst case of acne look like a couple of cute little freckles." Hermione explained to them with a grim little grin. Harry didn't like it. He couldn't explain it but that grin nearly made Harry believe it was someone else talking to them. Like it wasn't Hermione that was sitting right in front of them. There was a gleam of malice in that viper-like grin that made Harry shiver worst than when he was near a dementor. 

It got worst later in the day when Harry found Hedwig tapping against one of Professor Binns's classroom's windows with a broken wing. Upon receiving her from outside, he was able to convince Professor Binns to let him out of his classroom by pretending he wasn't feel too well. He hurried out of the room and towards the office of the only person, who probably be able to help him. He was making his way down the hallway and around the corner when he ran into someone.

"Oh! I beg your pardon, young man. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going," Harry looked up as his eyes widened. It was a woman with long black and white hair, which laid right against her backside. She was wearing a heavy red velvet coat with black fur trims over her long crimson dress. He recognized the woman as the woman he thought was Hermione. There was someone lurking right behind her, but he was well wrapped under a cloak that Harry couldn't even tell if it was a human underneath it. 

"Excuse me, I know you look like you're in a rush, but I was hoping you could help us. Do you perhaps know where Dolores Umbridge's office is? She has requested for us to come down here, but she, at last, forgot to inform us where her office is." the woman said with an eerie vibe pulsing from her.  

"Er-- no problem." He said, clinging tightly to Hedwig, as he began to direct them towards the office. 

"Thank you, sweetie. You take care now..." she said as she and her friend began walking down the corridor, "Oh! And if I were you, I would think twice about sending your poor owl out there to deliver your letters to whoever it was you were talking to. Rumor has it, the letters traveling to and from Hogwarts are being watched." 

Harry stood there almost glued to the floor as he watched the two of them vanish around the corner. He quickly forgot to worry about it when Hegwig let out a light shriek as he quickly remembered the task at hand and hurried down the corridor to find Professor Grubbly-Plank.